[1] He then served as deacon at St. Mary's Cathedral until he was ordained priest on May 6, 1957, by Bishop John Vander Horst, then suffragan (later diocesan) of Tennessee.
[3] Coleman was elected to be the Coadjutor Bishop of West Tennessee on June 19, 1993, on the 11th ballot, during a special diocesan convention.
[4] He was consecrated on November 13, 1993, by Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee, used because of its large facilities, something no Memphis-area Episcopal parish had.
He was also responsible for reinstating college chaplaincies in the diocese, and founded a training centre for the Catechises of the Good Shepherd, an interdenominational Montessori-based Christian education program at St. Mary's Cathedral.
In doing so, they noted that the space stands at the heart of the congregation's communal life together, making it fitting to rename it after a rector who helped build up the St. James community.